Stoppingthelensdownbya stopor
twoseesanimprovementin centre
andcornersharpness.Thiswasshot
closetoBodiamCastle, East Sussex
CanonEOS5DSR,131mm,
1/640sec at f/5.6, ISO 200
Chromaticaberrationsare
wellcontrolledthroughthe
zoomandaperturerange
CanonEOSR withEF-EOSR mountadapter,
143mm, 1/1250sec at f/4, ISO 100‘Thepermanentlyattachedtripod collar has click stops’theOSswitch,anaccelerationsensor
teamsupwithanupdatedstabilisation
algorithmtodelivereffectivestabilisation
whenthecamerais movedhorizontally,
vertically,ordiagonally,regardlessofthe
positionofthelens.If youdon’tintendtopan
witha movingsubject,Mode1 is bestfor
generalshooting.
Elsewhere,there’sa manualoverride(MO)
optionthatcanbeusedtoquicklyswitchthe
lenstomanualfocusbyrotatingthefocusring,
it hasan82mmfilterthread,plusit’sfully
compatiblewithSigma’scurrentTC-1401and
TC-2001teleconverters,whichwhencoupled
betweenthecamerabodyandlensturnit into
a 98-280mmf/4or140-400mmf/5.6lens,
respectively.Canon,NikonandSigmamounts
areallavailableforthesameprice,however
theSonyE mountisn’tcateredfor.Those
wishingtopairit witha Sonyfull-frame
A7-series camera will require an adapter suchasSigma’sMC-11(£199),whichsupports both
autofocusandopticalstabilisation.Buildandhandling
Thelensis analtogetherlargerandheavier
opticthantheoneit replaces.Theadditional
elementsandgroupscontributetoit being
375gheavierandat 1.8kgonthescalesit’s
nota lightweightlens.ComparedtoSigma
lensesof old,whichareknownfortheirsmooth
finishtothebarrelandgoldembellishment,
thisnewversionconformstothelookof
Sigma’slatestGlobalVisionlenses.Thewhite
letteringonthemottledblackpaintfinishhas
a muchcleaner,high-endaesthetic.With
dust-andsplash-proofsealsat themount
connection,manualfocusring,zoomring
andcoverconnection,it’sfarbetterprotected
thanitspredecessor,offeringimproved
protectionagainstthewetweatherconditions
outdoor photographers can come up against.Thebarrelis constructedfrommagnesium
alloytogiveit maximumstrength,andbetween
therubberisedmanualfocusandzoomrings
you’llfindthreeAFfunctionbuttons.With
Sigma-andNikon-mountversionsof thelens
it’spossibletochangethefunctionof this
buttonwithSigma’sUSBdockdevice,whereas
witha Canon-mountexample,likeourreview
samplethatwastestedwiththeCanonEOS
5DSR,it’spossibletochangewhattheseAF
functionbuttonsareassignedtofromthe
camera’scustomcontrols.Havingtheoption
toacquireandholdfocusdirectlyfromyour
lefthandmadefora highlyintuitiveoperational
experiencein bothshootingorientations.
PositionedbetweentheAF/MFandoptical
stabilisationswitchesis a focuslimitswitch.
ThiscanbesettoFULL(1.2mtoinfinity)or
3mtoinfinity.If you’dliketocustomisethe
focuslimitrange,thesensitivityforengaging
full-timemanualoverrideorautofocusspeed,
thisis achievedusingSigma’soptionalUSB
dockin connectionwiththeC1andC1
settingsfromthecustomswitch.Asforthe
operationof thezoomandfocusrings,both
operatesmoothly,withnosignof anychange
in resistancethroughtheirrange.
Thepetal-shapedlenshoodfeaturesa lock
andthepermanentlyattachedtripodcollarhas
clickstopsevery90°.If youownanArca-Swiss
tripodhead,thetripodfootcanbemounted
directlytoit, althoughin useI foundthetripod
footgetsin thewayof operatingthemanual
focusring,soit’sgoodpracticetotwistit
through 180°. Doing so allows the barrel to